Concierge Thyroid & Parathyroid Surgery for Medicare Patients

If you've been told you need thyroid or parathyroid surgery, you already know the hard part isn't the diagnosis. It's finding someone you trust to actually do the operation — and then being able to reach that person when you have a question at 8 p.m. on a Sunday.

At the Russell Center for Endocrine Health in Columbia, Maryland, that's the entire point. We built a practice around a simple, almost old-fashioned idea: one expert surgeon takes care of you personally, from the first phone call to the last follow-up. No call centers. No handoffs. No wondering who's really in the room.

A real person answers the phone

Call most surgical practices and you'll get a phone menu, a hold queue, or a callback "within two business days." Call us and, whenever we can, a real person picks up. And on the occasions we're with a patient and miss your call, we call you back by the next business day — every time.

That responsiveness isn't a gimmick — it's a signal. The same attentiveness we bring to the phone is the attentiveness we bring to your operation and your recovery. When you're weighing something as important as thyroid or parathyroid surgery, you shouldn't have to fight to be heard.

Dr. Russell performs your entire operation — himself

At many academic and hospital-based programs, "your surgeon" supervises while residents or fellows perform parts of the case. That's how teaching hospitals train the next generation, and it has its place. But it's not what most patients picture when they consent to surgery.

At the Russell Center, Jonathon O. Russell, MD, FACS, performs your entire operation, personally, start to finish.The hands that plan your surgery are the hands that do it.

Dr. Russell has performed more remote-access thyroid operations than any other surgeon in the United States over the past decade. He introduced the transoral (scarless) approach — TOETVA — to the Western Hemisphere, co-authored the 2025 international consensus statement on remote-access thyroid and parathyroid surgery, and has trained surgeons at institutions including Stanford, NYU, Harvard, UCLA, MD Anderson, and the Clayman Thyroid Center.

That experience shows up where it matters most. As of this writing, Dr. Russell has had zero permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve (voice nerve) injuries with the transoral approach — a record that speaks directly to the outcome most thyroid patients worry about: their voice.

For patients who qualify, that experience translates into options many patients aren't offered elsewhere: scarless thyroid and parathyroid surgery, radiofrequency ablation, and Thyroid Rejuvenation™.

You get Dr. Russell's cell phone number

Here's something you won't find on most surgical center websites: after your surgery, you receive Dr. Russell's personal cell phone number.

Not a pager. Not an answering service. His cell. If something worries you during recovery, you reach the surgeon who operated on you — the one person who knows exactly what was done and why. This is the kind of access patients used to expect from medicine and rarely get anymore. We think it should be the standard, not the exception.

Medicine the way it used to be — done at a modern level

Call it old-fashioned. We'd call it relationship-based care: unhurried appointments, a surgeon who knows your name and your history, and decisions made between you and your physician rather than dictated by a system.

The difference from concierge care is that the "old-fashioned" part is only half of it. The other half is fully modern — advanced scarless techniques, non-surgical ablation options, and a volume of complex endocrine cases most general surgeons never see. You get the personal attention of a small practice and the technical depth of a national referral center in the same place.

For Medicare patients considering surgery

The Russell Center is an out-of-network private practice, and Dr. Russell has fully opted out of Medicare. Medicare patients are cared for under a private contract signed before surgery. In plain terms: you pay directly for your care and Medicare does not reimburse you or us. We tell you the full cost up front, in writing, before any decision is made — no surprises.

For most patients, thyroid or parathyroid treatment at the Russell Center is approximately $6,000, with the exact figure depending on your specific procedure. You'll have that number in writing before you decide anything.

Why do Medicare patients choose this route for thyroid and parathyroid surgery? Because for an operation this consequential — one where the surgeon's experience directly affects your voice, your calcium levels, and your recovery — they want to choose the surgeon, not have one assigned, and they want direct access to that surgeon afterward.

Serving Maryland, Washington, D.C., and patients nationwide

We're located in Columbia, Maryland, between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and we regularly care for patients who travel from across the country for scarless and remote-access surgery. Our team can help coordinate travel and out-of-town logistics, so distance is never the reason you settle for less.

Talk to us

If you're facing thyroid or parathyroid surgery and want to understand your options, call the Russell Center for Endocrine Health at 443-333-5233. A real person will answer — and you'll be talking with the practice that will actually take care of you.

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